This invention relates in general to vehicle seats, and in particular to consoles and child booster seats incorporated therein.
Vehicle seats have a generally horizontal seat bottom and a seat back extending vertically from the rear portion of the seat bottom at a slight angle. Some vehicle seats, such as rear seats of the vehicle, have armrests which are disposed in a recess formed in the seat back and are pivotally mounted therein. The armrests are movable between a stowed position within the recess of the seat back, to an extended position, in which the armrests pivots downwardly from the seat back to a generally horizontal position above the seat bottom. When the armrest is moved to its lowered position, an upper surface of the generally horizontal armrest is exposed. It has been known to include features, such as cup holders and storage compartments, built into this upper surface to be used by the occupants of the rear seat. However, since the length of the armrest is dependent on the length of the recess of the seat back, and the height of the seat back is generally not that large, the upper surface of the armrest is positioned adjacent the sides of the occupants of the seat and not general in front of the occupants. This side positioning of the armrest can be awkward for the occupants to use some of the features of the armrest.
Some vehicle seats are equipped with integral child seats, having a panel disposed in the recess of the seat back which is rotated to a generally horizontal position to provide a seating surface for the child. The exposed vertical portion of recess of the seat back provides the back support surface for the child. The child is then typically restrained in the seats by additional restraint belts housed within the recess. These child seats are relatively expensive to manufacture and are designed for relatively young and small children. For older and larger children, it is known to provide a booster seat movable to an elevated position to increase the height of the child for better placement of conventional shoulder restraint belts, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,392 issued on Mar. 11, 1997 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,934 issued on Nov. 30, 1993. However, these booster seats include complicated linkages and actuating members which can be relatively expensive to manufacture and install.
This invention relates to a vehicle seat which preferably includes a console pivotally mounted on a seat back and extendable to a position outwardly from the front edge of the seat bottom. This invention also relates to a vehicle seat preferably including a booster seat movable from a stowed positioned within a recess of a seat bottom to an upright position positioned above a rear support area of the seating surface of the seat bottom behind the recess.
The vehicle seat of the present invention preferably includes a seat bottom having first and second portions which define a generally horizontal seating surface, a front edge, and a rear edge. Preferably, a common frame member extends through the first and second portions. A console is selectively disposed in a recess formed in one of the first and second portions. The console has a first side and a second side opposite the first side. The first side defines a console seating surface. The console is pivotable between a first position, wherein the console seating surface is generally co-planar with the seating surface of the first and second portions, and a second position, wherein the console is pivoted outwardly from the front edge exposing the second side of the console. Preferably, the recess extends toward the rear edge to a mid-point of the seating surfaces to define a rear support area of the seat bottom.
The vehicle seat of the present invention preferably includes a second recess formed in the seating surface of the seat bottom between the front and rear edges to define a second rear support area located between the rear edge and the second recess. A booster seat, having a seating surface, is movable between a first position, wherein the booster seat is disposed in the second recess such that the seating surface of the booster seat is generally co-planar with the seating surface of the seat bottom, and a second position, wherein the booster seat is positioned above the rear support area.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.